Marilyn Gordon, longtime OPEN EXCHANGE lister, is founder of the Center for Hypnotherapy Certification, listed in OPEN EXCHANGE's Schools & Certifications category.

A career in the healing arts gives you the opportunity to do the work of your soul. Not only is it possible to make a contribution to the lives of others, but you can make a living this way and find great inner fulfillment. In order to do this level of work, it is wise to have an education that supports the totality of your being. This means that such an education pays close attention to the mind, emotions, body and soul.

An education for the soul prepares its students for the great shifts in consciousness that are happening so rapidly and so pervasively in our world. It prepares its students for new dimensions of knowledge. It e explores techniques that help both its students and its teachers move from darkness into light. Everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, is on the spiritual path. Since everyone is headed on the journey home, and this is truly the ultimate purpose of everyone's life, education for the soul highlights this most supreme journey.

Such an education unlocks hidden knowledge, realms that are both practical and transcendental. It unlocks the doors of intuition, spirituality, joy, self-knowledge, healing, and practical wisdom. Plato spoke of philosopher-kings as the best kinds of rulers of nations. He meant that the one who has wholeness as his very nature rules from an inner state of great wisdom. Ultimate soul education creates such enlightened beings who are philosophers, leaders, healers and wise beings.

Moving from Darkness into Light: So how does this kind of soul education help students to move from darkness into light? It provides an environment in which the darkness can be explored and, though that exploration, the realms of light are reached. The journey out is through. Such a school explores anger, fear, grief, guilt, shame, sadness, so there is a natural movement into forgiveness, joy, wisdom and bliss. Such an education honors all facets of human behavior, knowing that ultimately, transformation takes place.

Preparing for Shifts in Consciousness: A curriculum in a school for the soul includes techniques for transformation that are both ancient and on the evolutionary leading edge. Techniques for releasing old patterns and emotions, for exploring other levels of consciousness, for accessing intuitive knowledge and knowledge of the spiritual realms—all of these belong in a system that educates the soul.

A school for the soul enlists the inner sanctuaries of students; teachers and everyone involved and travels on the inner terrain, bringing forth the essence that is the deepest source of every living being.